Ashley Adams

Expedition Assistant, Student Research Associate

Photo Credit: A. Adams

Ashley’s interest in paleontology began when she was young, exploring the fossil-rich creeks around her home in Fort Worth Texas. As she grew, her love for paleontology spread from just the fossil and into the surrounding rock and landscape, and what secrets the rocks and fossils can reveal about the past. Instilled with a passion for learning, Ashley strives to put that passion to good use, both through research and teaching, and believes in the importance of fieldwork in fostering an understanding of paleontology and geology. Ashley is currently working to complete her formal education at Drexel University, and looks forward exploring the amazing exposures the west has to offer.

Ashley is currently a PhD student at Drexel University. Her current research focuses on the stratigraphy and sedimentology of northern exposures of the Morrison Formation.

Research

Photo Credit: A. Adams

Ashley’s primary research focus centers around Mesozoic fluvial systems, including sedimentology, stratigraphy, geologic mapping and vertebrate paleontology. Her Masters research culminated in the creation of a detailed geologic map of a portion of the Western Rosillos Mountain Ranch in the Big Bend area, as well as a detailed stratigraphic section and vertebrate material to add to the current Big Bend collection. While working on her Masters, Ashley also participated in an Edmap project through the USGS, which included creating accurate paleochannel maps of 3 quadrangles of the Missouri river based on core samples sampled in the field. Currently Ashley is focusing on teasing apart the geology of the northern section of the Morrison Formation in the Bighorn Basin.

Ashley earned a B.S. in Geology and a B. A. in Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh, and a M.S. in Geology from Texas Christian University.

Figure by A. Adams

Selected Publications

Adams, Ashley L., Busbey, A. Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the Western Rosillos Mountain Ranch, Brewster County, TX: A Revision of Previous Mapping. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Abstracts, Presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 10/15/2015, Dallas, Texas.

Teaching Experience

Photo Credit: A. Adams

Ashley has been serving as a Teaching Assistant for both Texas Christian University, where she received her Masters, and Drexel University, where she is currently studying. She has taught a variety of classes while serving as a Teaching Assistant, including, but not limited to, Historical Geology Lab II, Intro to GIS, Intro and Advanced Field Methods, and Vertebrate Anatomy Lab. Raised by two teachers herself, Ashley understands the importance of passing knowledge to the next generation, and has found that the field is one of the best classrooms around.

In Her Own Words

Every rock has a story. From a calm lake bed of a siltstone to the floodbank deposits of a sand, each one can tell you something about the past. And by looking at the rocks, fossils, and structures of a whole area, one can begin to piece together the puzzles of the past, and bring that story to life. I strive to be that storyteller, to bring these stories locked up for millions of years into the present.